Hearing devices are wearable hearing apparatuses which are used to assist the hard-of-hearing. In order to accommodate numerous individual requirements, various types of hearing devices are available such as behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing devices, hearing device with an external receiver (RIC: receiver in the canal) and in-the-ear (ITE) hearing devices, for example also concha hearing devices or completely-in-the-canal (ITE, CIC) hearing devices. The hearing devices listed as examples are worn on the outer ear or in the auditory canal. Bone conduction hearing aids, implantable or vibrotactile hearing aids are also available on the market. The damaged hearing is thus stimulated either mechanically or electrically.
The key components of hearing devices are principally an input converter, an amplifier and an output converter. The input converter is normally a receiving transducer e.g. a microphone and/or an electromagnetic receiver, e.g. an induction coil. The output converter is most frequently realized as an electroacoustic converter e.g. a miniature loudspeaker, or as an electromechanical converter e.g. a bone conduction hearing aid. The amplifier is usually integrated into a signal processing unit. This basic configuration is illustrated in FIG. 1 using the example of a behind-the-ear hearing device. One or a plurality of microphones 2 for recording ambient sound are built into a hearing device housing 1 to be worn behind the ear. A signal processing unit 3 which is also integrated into the hearing device housing 1 processes and amplifies the microphone signals. The output signal for the signal processing unit 3 is transmitted to a loudspeaker or receiver 4, which outputs an acoustic signal. Sound is transmitted through a sound tube, which is affixed in the auditory canal by means of an otoplastic, to the device wearer's eardrum. Power for the hearing device and in particular for the signal processing unit 3 is supplied by means of a battery 5 which is also integrated in the hearing device housing 1.
It is possible for a hearing system to be automatically controlled by means of a perceptive model, namely in the form such that psychoacoustic dimensions, like for instance volume, convenience, hearing effort etc. are optimized.
The publication EP 0 661 905 A2 describes a similar method for adjusting a hearing device and a corresponding hearing device. A perceptive model obtains a psychoacoustic variable, in particular the loudness, on the one hand for a standard group of people and on the other hand for a single person. Control details are determined on the basis of the difference of the two psychoacoustic variables, with the signal transmission to a hearing device being configured or set ex situ and/or being conducted in situ.
The publication US 2002/0111745 A1 also discloses a wearable hearing analysis system. Parameters of a hearing response can be obtained here by an audiometer. A response prediction is used to perform a basic setting of a hearing device.